Re: Beer. Not shit beer. Good beer.

Hi all,

First-time poster, long-time lurker on the Coachella boards. I just came across this thread and hope that it is a relatively safe place to pop my Coachella forum cherry. We're travelling from Alabama for our second Coachella and are looking forward to getting our hands on some beers that we can't get around here.

Number one on my list is Pliny the Elder. Will that be easy to find in April? I just brewed a clone and want to know how close or off the mark I am. Are there any other beers (esp. IPAs) that I should be looking for? We get Ballast Point and Green Flash in Alabama and I usually stock up on Stone and Lagunitas whenever I'm in Georgia.

We'll be in San Diego for a week after Coachella and plan to visit Ballast Point, Stone and Julian (my wife is into the ciders.) Are there any other breweries that I should try to visit? Is the Stone restaurant worth the time/money?

Thanks!

Oh yeah...has the Coachella beer lineup expanded at all or are we still stuck with over-priced Heineken? Our first trip was in 2010.

Re: Beer. Not shit beer. Good beer.

I am a big fan of the Stone brewery. The tour is free and includes a free tasting at the end, and it's just gorgeous in there. In terms of San Diego breweries I imagine you'll get tons of recommendations. Ones I really enjoy that you don't get over there are Alpine and Port. Port is connected to a pizza place as well, so that's pretty cool. Also, I haven't been but Toronado, one of the great beer bars of all time, has a location in the Gaslamp district now. They get beers you may not find anywhere else, so that'd be well worth the trip.

Re: Beer. Not shit beer. Good beer.

The childless 20-something year olds on the board who find a 50 something year old man fucking teenage prostitutes distasteful will probably change the hum of their tune once they produce babies, definitely. That's the missing link.

Re: Beer. Not shit beer. Good beer.

Originally Posted by bmack86

Ones I really enjoy that you don't get over there are Alpine and Port. Port is connected to a pizza place as well, so that's pretty cool. Also, I haven't been but Toronado, one of the great beer bars of all time, has a location in the Gaslamp district now. They get beers you may not find anywhere else, so that'd be well worth the trip.

Oh yeah...Port Pizza. Thanks for mentioning that. I just read about them in the Stone book. We're actually staying in Poway so that sounds like a good lunch or dinner option sometime. What about the Stone restaurant?

Re: Beer. Not shit beer. Good beer.

I enjoyed the Stone restaurant quite a bit, but others have said they find it lacking. I love the setting they created for it, so that really helped, and I was there with a group of 20 friends, so that helped as well.

Re: Beer. Not shit beer. Good beer.

The Stone restaurant is worth a visit to take the tour if you're interested (you can sign up in advance on their website I believe), have a pint or two at the bar and walk around the garden area out back. I don't recommend eating there, though. The food is very hit/miss and expensive. If you go to Stone and have time for another brewery stop, the Lost Abbey is worth hitting. They have the Pizza Port beers there as well as the Belgian-style Lost Abbey beers. (Note: Their beers are great on tap but they have a lot of problems with the bottles, so I don't recommend buying any.) Also nearby is Churchill's pub, which has good bar food and good taps. I'd eat there instead of Stone, but that's me.

If you love IPAs there's no better place to go than Alpine. It's a bit of a drive but their beers are outstanding. They have a little diner two doors down from the brewery (they own both) that serves good barbecue, too. Check their hours on their website before you go, as the brewery is closed on Sunday and Monday, I think, and the diner is closed on Monday.

If you go to the Pacific Beach area, California Kebob is a nice stop. They have a small brewery, Amplified Ale Works, that serves good house beers and they always have great guest taps. They have a outdoor deck on the second floor where you can have a beer, eat some kebobs/falafel/etc and watch the waves. About six blocks inland in PB is the Tap Room, which has as good a selection of local beers as you'll find. They have four-five taps for AleSmith, Green Flash, Pizza Port, Ballast Point, Stone and Karl Strauss, plus other rotating offerings. They keep their tap list current at their website.

The North Park area is another great beer neighborhood. That's where Toronado is (it's not in the Gaslamp), along with Tiger! Tiger! and other spots. Toronado usually has some Alpine beers on tap, so you could go there if you can't make it out to Alpine itself.

You said you're staying in Poway. The Lightning brewery is there, but I wouldn't go unless you have no other choice. The owner is a nice guy but the beers are unremarkable at best.

Re: Beer. Not shit beer. Good beer.

The Wegmans here just got in some Bell's Hopslam Ale. I'm swinging by tonight to pick some up. I've only had their Two Hearted Ale.

Originally Posted by Neighborhood Creep

It's delicious. I just spent 80 bucks on a case. I went to the bar last night and got pretty damn buzzed off four pints of it. Get a couple sixers, you'll be sad you didn't when it's sold out.

Originally Posted by CuervoPH

Done and just cracked open the first one. Damn good. Methinks I'll be hitting Wegmans tomorrow for a couple more sixers if they have any left. They were already running low.

Originally Posted by Neighborhood Creep

It's crazy how fast they go but it's super limited and RateBeer ranked Bell's Hopslam #6 in their list of the Best Top 50 Beers of 2013. All our local liq stores were out in 2 days and there's just a handful of bars with it on tap but those are usually empty in about a week.

I stopped by Whole Foods this evening to pick up some items and bought a sixer of Hopslam. I was shocked they had it in stock. I've never had Hopslam and I'm really looking forward to drinking a bottle for V-day tomorrow.

Re: Beer. Not shit beer. Good beer.

Last night I drank a growler of Mammoth Brewing's Stump Alley Sour, a brewery-only release. It's a mild sour "dry-hopped" with bing cherries, then aged with palo santo wood and oak chips. It was very mild, lightly tart and full of woody aftertaste. I liked it enough to drink a whole growler in one night.

Today at lunch (up in Mammoth) I had their Lair of the Bear bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout. It's super full of flavor and about as dark as you'll ever see a beer. I had to walk around for an hour to feel decent after it, and I had a big lunch. Great stuff.

They also said that, within two years, they will have full distribution to southern California. That should be exciting for fans of good beer.

Re: Beer. Not shit beer. Good beer.

Come up this weekend. They have a single cask of their pilsner that's been filled with chileno chilis for the past three weeks. The brewer told me today that he thinks its one of the best things they've ever done. I can't wait.

Re: Beer. Not shit beer. Good beer.

Originally Posted by hophead

Hi all,

First-time poster, long-time lurker on the Coachella boards. I just came across this thread and hope that it is a relatively safe place to pop my Coachella forum cherry. We're travelling from Alabama for our second Coachella and are looking forward to getting our hands on some beers that we can't get around here.

Number one on my list is Pliny the Elder. Will that be easy to find in April? I just brewed a clone and want to know how close or off the mark I am. Are there any other beers (esp. IPAs) that I should be looking for? We get Ballast Point and Green Flash in Alabama and I usually stock up on Stone and Lagunitas whenever I'm in Georgia.

We'll be in San Diego for a week after Coachella and plan to visit Ballast Point, Stone and Julian (my wife is into the ciders.) Are there any other breweries that I should try to visit? Is the Stone restaurant worth the time/money?

Thanks!

Oh yeah...has the Coachella beer lineup expanded at all or are we still stuck with over-priced Heineken? Our first trip was in 2010.

Concur with bmack the beer garden at Stone is beautiful. However it feels pretty damn dark at night the further you sit away from the main dining area. Also, last time I ate there was sub-par. The time before was really good. Hit/miss.

You should also make an effort to see the Bruery if you think you'll venture that far north

Coachella has Newcastle now. No longer stuck with just Heineken (although they own the Newcastle brand).

This Will Destroy You| A Place To Bury Strangers| His Name Is Alive| Barry Manilow| Coachella| U2| Aerosmith| Steely Dan/Elvis Costello| The Jesus and Mary Chain/A Place To Bury Strangers| The Jesus and Mary Chain/A Place To Bury Strangers| FYF| Erykah Badu/St Vincent| The Who| Chelsea Wolfe| AC/DC| Garbage| Blur| The Cult/Primal Scream

Re: Beer. Not shit beer. Good beer.

I am so getting a bottle of BA Kopi Luwak Speedway Stout.Sad thing is Im buying one and then driving an hour from my work just to pick up a single bottle of beer .... sigh yet I **MIGHT** get a bottle of Decadence 2011 for whenever I see Chiapet again since she loves the normal version of that beer.

Our second Reserve Series release of 2013 will be Barrel Aged Decadence 2011 and our first ever bottling of Barrel Aged Kopi Luwak Speedway Stout. A little information about each of these beers:

Barrel Aged Decadence 2011 is our Smoked Maple Barleywine (brewed to celebrate our 16th anniversary) matured in premium bourbon barrels. This will be our only release of this limited edition bottling. We'll also tap a cask of Barrel Aged Decadence 2011 in the tasting room on Tuesday, February 26th.

Barrel Aged Kopi Luwak Speedway Stout is our award winning year round Speedway Stout with Kopi Luwak Coffee that has been matured in premium bourbon barrels. Considered one of the world's most expensive and rare coffee varieties, the beans are specifically selected for their ripeness and quality by the civet, a small jungle marsupial that feeds of the fruit of the coffee cherry. Good to the last dropping!

Starting February 19th, you will be able to purchase up to three (3) bottles of Barrel Aged Old Numbskull ($30.00 per bottle plus Brown Paper Tickets Service Fee) and up to three (3) bottles of Kopi Luwak Speedway Stout ($30.00 per bottle plus Brown Paper Tickets Service Fee) and your name will be registered (you will need to use your name for each bottle). Any duplicate sales to the same name will be voided! We want to make this as fair as possible and get as many bottles into our wonderful customer's hands! PLEASE USE ONLY YOUR NAME TO PURCHASE THE BOTTLES! YOUR BOTTLE PURCHASE IS JUST FOR YOUR BOTTLES. YOU CANNOT PURCHASE BOTTLES UNDER SOMEONE ELSE'S NAME OR FOR SOMEONE ELSE. IF YOU BUY THEM, YOU MUST PICK THEM UP!

Bottles can be picked up starting Saturday, February 23rd in the AleSmith Tasting Room. Bottles can be retrieved during tasting room hours from Saturday, February 23rd through Sunday, April 21st (Tue/Wed/Thur: 2-8pm, Fri: 2-9pm, Sat: 11am-8pm & Sun: 11am-6pm.) Any bottles not retrieved by SUNDAY, APRIL 21ST will be surrendered back to the brewery. Please DO NOT PURCHASE BOTTLES UNLESS YOU CAN MAKE IT TO THE BREWERY BY APRIL 21ST, 2013!

Proxies will not be allowed for this release, you will need to show your proof of purchase (in the form of CONFIRMATION EMAIL FROM BROWN PAPER TICKETS) and valid id to retrieve your bottles. NO EXCEPTIONS WILL BE MADE. This means you will NOT be able to pick up anyone else's bottles, and we will not release the bottles to you without a confirmation and valid id matching the name on the sale!

Please ensure you only pick up bottles during the following dates/times: Tue/Wed/Thur: 2-8pm, Fri: 2-9pm, Sat: 11am-8pm & Sun: 11am-6pm. Please do not purchase bottles until you've read the terms and conditions listed below and can ensure you will be able to pick up your bottles by SUNDAY, APRIL 21ST, 2013!

Re: Beer. Not shit beer. Good beer.

Wow, that's really cool. I have the craft beer place in Savannah, The Distillery, as friend or follow or whatever on Facebook and they post what's on tap weekly. That particular beer really sounded amazing to me, so we walked over there before seeing Torche Saturday night, instead of just doing the normal PBR at the venue thing. It was seriously the first thing I thought about Sunday morning. Their on deck menu had a bourbon barrel stout coming up next, but, man, I'm not sure it can be as good.

Re: Beer. Not shit beer. Good beer.

Originally Posted by fastmusicfan

Wow, that's really cool. I have the craft beer place in Savannah, The Distillery, as friend or follow or whatever on Facebook and they post what's on tap weekly. That particular beer really sounded amazing to me, so we walked over there before seeing Torche Saturday night, instead of just doing the normal PBR at the venue thing. It was seriously the first thing I thought about Sunday morning. Their on deck menu had a bourbon barrel stout coming up next, but, man, I'm not sure it can be as good.

The first time I visited the south we drank nothing but that. It's a fantastic beer, and I've been consistently contacting the brewers trying to figure out if they'll ever expand their distribution.

Originally Posted by getbetter

Cismontane is such a good brewery.

When they introduced the brewery they did a coffee-infused steam beer that was one of the best beers I've tried. Like the KBBA, I keep emailing them asking if they'll ever do it again, but they seem to be against it.